ABOUT WILBUR

The ability to read is a gift that parents and teachers give to children. The gift is a little bit more special when the book was written by other students.

The "Reading with Wilbur" series began with an English class at Waterford Mott High School in Waterford, MI. It grew from a single story, Wilbur's Wonderful Day, to a series of books, videos, activities, and adventures. Our objective is to give parents and educators the tools needed to help a child learn to read. We hope that our lovable Wilbur will get children interested and excited to read about his adventures.

A crew of high school students also began filming a series of Reading with Wilbur episodes. Each episode is approximately six minutes long and includes a read aloud story, live animals, elementary "favorite book" reviews and a song. There are 26 episodes in the YouTube series. Episodes will be released once every two weeks, beginning in September. The series was made possible by a grant from the AT&T Foundation awarded to the Waterford Foundation for Public Education and supports the Waterford READS initiative.

Through this website, you will find a variety of resources you can use to help children to access the wonderful world of reading. You can also join Wilbur on his adventures with the online video library. New episodes will be added regularly! .

We guarantee that all Waterford School District students will be reading at grade level by the end of third grade!

Waterford READS is a comprehensive program intended to ensure students read at grade level by the end of third grade. The program even intends to impact children ages 0-3, who are typically not yet in school. The guarantee begins with students who are in the third grade during the 2016-2017 school year.

This guarantee means Waterford School District will focus resources on grade level reading in grades preK-3. The guarantee means various research-based interventions will be used when students are not reading at grade level. This is a commitment to the families of Waterford School District that their children will be prepared for the next step in their journey!